Gas Out aka Petrol Tax

The below messages are widespread chain letters, please ignore them, do NOT pass them on a they waste e-mail bandwidth:

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

Last year on April 30,1999, a gas out was staged across Canada and the U.S. to bring the price of gas down, and it worked. It's time to do something about it again.

Only this time lets make it for three days instead of just one. The so-called oil cartel decided to slow production to drive up gasoline prices. Lets see how many Canadian and American people we can get to ban together for a three day period in April, NOT TO BUY ANY GASOLINE, during those three days.

LETS HAVE A GAS OUT. Do not buy any gasoline from APRIL 7, 2000, THROUGH APRIL 9, 2000. Buy what you need before the dates listed above, or after, but try not to buy any during the GAS OUT. If you want to help, just send this to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.

We brought the prices down once before, and we can do it again.

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE !

Even if you receive this 100 times keep passing it around, this way you know everyone is being informed and no one will forget!

Here's another version of this chain letter that has been modified. It looks like this:

Subject: FW: Great Gas out MOVED up

Thursday, March 2, 2000...Oil ministers from Venezuela, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia announced today that oil producing countries should boost crude oil production to bring the price down again, which are the highest prices in nine years! They have come to an agreement to boost output but the details of their meeting will be kept secret until March 27th... The three day "Gas-Out" dates have been changed to March 24th, 25th, and 26th! Please don't buy any gasoline on these days! Please forward this message to everyone that has the old dates in April!!!!!

Please ignore these chain letters and don't pass them on.

Here's another version with a distinctly British slant.

Subject: [barchetta_owners_uk] Petrol Tax; enough is enough?

Following message came to me via a friend in the fiat Club

what do you think? Can we make it happen?

Subject: UK, you are taxed at 614% on your petrol - ACT NOWPlease read this e-mail, and pass it on to anyone who you thinkmay be interested. This is very important!

Fact 1When the petrol price was hiked in America last year, that'sprecisely what they did. Nobody bought petrol for a day. The loss ofrevenue was crippling for some of the big players. They rallied roundand forced the prices down again.

Fact 2If you live in the UK, you are taxed at 614% on your petrol.Petrol is now approaching GBP0.90 per litre. That's GBP4.10 a gallon.For every GBP50 fill-up, you're just giving the government GBP43o utof your own pocket.

Fact 3For the average family, a 1p increase per litre in the cost of fuelmeans an extra GBP100 a year out of their pocket. Work it out foryourself. In the weeks leading up to mid June, you all took a salarycut

Fact 4Fuel duty has little to do with the environment. Leaded petrolwas supposedly taxed highly for environmental reasons.Why then, when it was replaced with LRP did the price not comed own?Diesel fuel is cheaper, yet pollutes more by producing carcinogensa ndparticulates. LPG is the cleanest fuel there is but you don't see thegovernment promoting that do you?

Fact 5GBP38billion is sucked out of motorist's pockets each year in tax.You buy the planet's most expensive petrol, but do you see that moneygoing back into the roads? No you do not. A recent study pointed outthat most of Britain's roads are up to 15 years beyond their structuralrefurbishment date.

Fact 6Freight companies are suffering - so is our trade with the EU.When a haulage company has to fill it's tanks with diesel taxed atsuch a ridiculous rate, it's running costs become so expensive thatcompanies take their business to haulage firms based on the continent.That in turn means a loss of income for our country.

Fact 7Public transport is not an option.Buses and coaches become more expensive again because of theunderlying cost of running them. The privatised rail and bus companiescontinue to slash services and close branch routes because runningthem is not "cost effective." I.e. the shareholders aren't getting theirdividends.And the government are doing nothing about it. Rail companies havebeen under performing and missing targets as stipulated by theircontractsever since privatisation. Yet they're all still in business.------------------------------------------------------------------------So Act!There is no major organisation that represents the Britishdriver when it comes to matters of fuel duty. The government arebleeding motorists dry.Why? Because they can. As long as public apathy continues, andwe keep paying ludicrous prices for our petrol, the government willkeep laying on the tax.

Starting on Tuesday, August 1st 2000, BOYCOTT THE FORECOURTPUMPS ON THE 1ST OF EVERY MONTH UNTIL THE

GOVERNMENT ACTS AND CUTS THETAX.

Don't buy any petrol or diesel.Spread the word and force the government to listen. For once,let's stand up with a unified voice and make themu nderstand that wewill no longer be quietly steamrollered into a transport system that'scrumbling under our feet whilst we pay for it through the nose. Tell themyou have had enough of Rip-Off Britain

Please ignore any messages regarding this "hoax" and do not pass on any messages regarding it. Passing on messages about this hoax serves only to further propagate it.